Making myself a new wardrobe!

Ok. I may have got a bit carried away now! A week ago I made my first ever clothing item. It was the rose t shirt my Melly sews. I have now made 4 versions of it. Yes. Four! I no longer need the instructions!

So after the purple one I made a black version with little sleeves.

And then, take 3. This is definitely my favourite one.

This one I got a bit clever adding lace! Because I wanted it to be see through behind the lace I left out the front facing completely. Instead I hemmed the top of the lace pieces before adding them and used an overlocking stitch to keep the seams neat. I think it worked really well.

I used a cotton Jersey fabric with less stretch than the previous versions. Its much softer and hangs on me more casually. I made it a little shorter as the lack of stretch made it sit more snuggly on my hips.

And finally I made a long sleeve one with a printed knit. I orderd the fabric on line and it arrived looking better than the pictures. I’m not sure about my choice of a plain coordinating fabric though. But still its nice to have a long sleeve version.

I managed to do the twin needle finishing on the hems which looks much more professional. I was a lot more precise with the cutting too which I think has helped with the overall finish.

I have put the pattern away now!! Time to move on or people will start noticing that all my clothes are the same! Thanks to Melly sews for the great introduction to sewing clothes. I have used it as a base to learn from and it’s been a fantastic pattern to introduce me to making clothes.

Creative Bag Making magazine available now!

Creative bag making is available to order now! So get your copy here

It features the ‘Flower bed Rucksack’ designed by myself along with many more, no doubt fabulous projects!

Giveaway – Modern Quilting Sampler class

The lovely Annie from The Village Haberdashery is hosting a fabulous giveaway for the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway day.

The Village Haberdashery provides a one-stop shop for the modern crafter with a delightful selection of fabric, yarn, haberdashery and trims. Classes are now being offered which range from knitting to quilting and to celebrate this and the new extended opening hours, Annie is offering one place for the Modern Quilting Sampler class led by popular quiltingblogger and author Katy Jones.

This class will provide you with an exciting introduction to the world of modern quilting using the half square triangle piecing technique! Half square triangles are one of the most important building blocks of patchwork – and the variations of blocks you can create using them are endless.

The class will be held over two days 10am-4pm (Saturday18th and 25th May) and takes place in West Hampstead, London so please ensure if you leave a comment that you are able to travel there for the set time.

There are two chances to win:

1. Leave a comment on the LMQG post telling them what crafty skill you would like to learn in 2013.

2. For a bonus entry sign up to the The Village Haberdashery newsletter and leave a comment telling them you have done so.

Giveaway is open to UK residents only and will close on the 10th May at 6pm and the winner will be chosen by Mr Random Generator.

Tutorial – Doily scatter cushion

I went a bit mad on e-bay recently and bought loads of vintage doilies – just because! I bought one, then looked for more and bid on a few more and a week or so later I had about 35 of them in all different sizes! I originally had a thought to translate some of the patterns in to print designs but have since found some great pictures on Pinterest and had a bit of a rethink.

Today, while my daughter had a nap, I made this.

Its super simple so if you have a spare doily laying around and want to make one too, here’s how I did it..

First I measured the doily and cut out a square of the background fabric that was 5 inches wider. My doily was 11″ across so I cut my square 16″. This gave me a border 2 1/2 inches all round the doily. For my background fabric I used some grey linen that I think is Tilda.

Next I pinned the doily in place, centrally to the background fabric. Then I sewed around the outside of the doily about 1/2 an inch from the outside using my applique foot. I picked a thread to match the doily rather than the background. I vaguely followed the lines of the doily to hide the stitches but I wasn’t too precise as the stitch lines aren’t really visible.

I continued to sew 2 more circles toward the centre of the doily to hold it in place more securely.

Next I cut 2 pieces from the background fabric to make the back of the cushion. I decided to go with a straightforward overlap/envelope back. You may prefer to add a zip at this point. I’m a bit rubbish at doing zips and this way is the quickest! (I probably had about 25 minutes before my daughter was likely to wake wanting my attention again! not to mention I didn’t have a zip in the right size or colour.) The 2 pieces need to be the width of the front, in this case 16″, by approximately 3/4 of this measurement. So in this case I cut mine 16″ x 12″.

I hemmed both the long (16″) edges on one side

Next I placed the 2 back pieces on to of the cushion front right sides together. Where they overlap in middle is the opening for the cushion

I then pinned these in place and stitched all the way round the outside. There is no need to leave a turning gap as the envelope opening itself allows you to turn it right sides out. Which is another reason I pick this method to make cushions whenever possible!

I don’t normally deviate from my 1/4″ patch-worker seams but this time I used a 1/2″ one. I also used an overlocking stitch around the edges. Linen frays very easily and this will keep the cushion in one piece better.

Now just turn the cushions right sides out and finished!

Now to decide what to do with the rest of the doilies….

Quilts on the beach

I have only ever taken photos of my quilts on my sofa or on my bed or hanging in my garden and to be honest its getting a bit boring! The light is rarely right and the photos don’t ever really do the quilts justice. So I have decided to start taking advantage of the beautiful outside spaces I have available close to me and make my photos a little more stunning!

I have recently completed two quilts for a new magazine that is coming out in August

Shortly after they were finished we ended up on a last minute trip down to the South Wales coast to visit family. I took the quilts with me in the hope of finding some beautiful scenery in which to photograph them. We stayed in Pendine which has a long flat sandy beach that goes out for miles when the tide is out. You can walk right around the cliffs to some caves and miles of lovely grey pebbles.

Its so refreshing to see them spread out in all that space and not to have to move unsightly obstacles like dirty clothes and children out of shot before I can start.

There are more of the pictures I took in the Gallery and on my flickr page

I happen to know from previous adventures that there are some fabulous castles in this part of Wales so I am already planning the next lot of photos. I just have to make the quilts now!

The start of a new mission…

…learning to make clothes. I have been quilting for years and can sew almost anything, apart from clothing. I have never learned. I have dabbled with altering things fairly successfully, although not neatly, but have not yet attempted a whole item from scratch. A few months ago I made this dress for my daughter using this pattern from Leila and Ben. It was really easy and a great starter.

But what I really want to be able to do, and have wanted to for years, is make stuff for me. So I trawled the web for patterns. Me being me, and getting over excited about my new mission, I bought 4 to start me off! Instead of the sensible option of ‘see how I get on with one for now’ .

So with the other 3 lined up waiting for me, I started with the rose T shirt by Melly sews. You can buy it here.

I came across it on Pinterest and I can say it was a perfect choice! Clear instructions and pictures and I didn’t get lost once. I used a purple viscose jersey and for my feature front I used an Amelie’s Attic woven print.

don’t look too close at the dodgy arm stitching!

I didn’t take the advice of a twin needle as I was too impatient but I will next time, to make my hems neater but all in all I am pretty pleased and definitely hooked!

I have learned 3 main things for next time:
- I will cut my pattern pieces more carefully and use my rotary cutter.
- I will try and use the twin needle for finishing hems in future.
- I may want to buy a overlocker!!!!